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About BioHavens: Deeper Understanding |
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BioHaven floating treatment wetlands are made of layers of plastic matrix bonded together with marine foam. The foam provides buoyancy as well as adhesion. The plastic is 100% recycled polyester, sourced from PET drink bottles, though other forms of matrix, such as coir, can be used. The foam is polyurethane. The standard reserve buoyancy is adjustable, from a typical island which is 5.5 lbs per square foot up to 61.5 lbs per cubic foot of island. (Reserve buoyancy is the amount of weight a floating island can support, after planting, without sinking).
To see full engineering specifications, please contact us
We believe there are many advantages to BioHaven floating treatment wetlands over other systems we know of. I will list them in point form:
1. BioHavens are 8" thick, minimum, comprised of a multitude of fibers representing surface area. This provides an enormous area for colonisation by microbes, and also protection for plant roots as they grow through the matrix. Many other systems are simple rafts and don't have the depth to support large plants or large colonies of biofilm (microbes). This translates to far greater water cleansing capacity in BioHavens, which is proven by independent research.
2. BioHavens can be planted with soil. This allows for all the benefits that soil offers, including oxygenation and mycorrhizie.
3. BioHavens are modeled on nature's floating islands and look completely natural and aesthetic.
4. Some other systems have to be pre-vegetated, which requires storage and the need for careful handling of plants. Launching a fully assembled island can be a big hassle and impossible where there is restricted access to water. BioHavens are planted at launch time. There's no need to inventory them: they can be delivered to site and assembled and launched in the same operation. Because they come in modular form, access to water is not a problem.
5. BioHavens are robust. Made of 100% recycled plastic - the inert kind - they have a tear strength of 5 - 6,000 lbs. They are UV resistant and non-toxic to fish. Some other systems are made of coir strapped together with polystyrene. Our experience of coir is that it delaminates in water; polystyrene breaks down easily then creates a big mess on the water (we have had this problem with a non-BioHaven pontoon here in Shepherd, where we have muskrats!).
6. BioHavens can be built any size, any shape, and any buoyancy up to 60 lbs per square foot.
7. BioHavens offer true riparian edge habitat, and attract all forms of life, including dragonfly and damselfly nymphs, butterflies and other insects which fish can feed on. They truly are a means of creating bio-diversity in the water.
8. BioHaven floating treatment wetlands are protected by a large patent portfolio so our distributors and licensees can be assured that they are dealing with a product that can be defended against illicit copies.
 The surface area of an aerial square foot of island, 8 inches thick, is 198 sq ft. This is provided by the fine fibers which make up the non-woven matrix. Expanded, a 250 sq ft island is the equivalent of 1 acre of wetland surface area. Our floating treatment wetlands can create a "concentrated wetland effect" without taking up land, and over deep water; as the flow of nutrients is exposed to island matrix and roots, and not just stems and leaves, the overall effectiveness of a floating island is much greater.
 Surface area is important because microbes need a surface to proliferate on. Think of a bottle you throw into the water - it doesn't take long before it's covered in green slime. This is biofilm and biofilm is made up of microbes, single cell organisms that need nitrogen and phosphorus to thrive. Giving microbes our "concentrated wetland effect" is like replacing single-storey housing with multi-storey appartment blocks.
Nutrients, which arrive in the water column via fertilizers, are harmful to water as they allow algae to grow; but if we give microbes enough surface area, they'll use the nutrients for their own growth before algae can use them. Thus the microbes keep the water clear of algae, and in so doing prevent algae depleting the water of oxygen.
Research studies prove that BioHavens do what we say they will do. A two-year study conducted by a third party engineer(and funded jointly by the state of Montana and FII) affirmed that, under optimal test conditions, BioHavens remove 20 times more nitrate than the best previously published study (BoR, 2005), 10 times more phosphate, and 11 times more ammonia than the amount which is considered a benchmark for best performance. BioHavens are also extremely effective at reducing Total Suspended Solids and turbidity, and Dissolved Organic Carbon.
These results have been computed by square foot, to enable us give a best assessment of how much island is needed for what size problem.
 Microbes are the very base of the food chain. If microbes are allowed to thrive, the rest of the food chain can flourish. Microbes produce zooplankton (slime) which fish and other creatures feed on. This is a source of carbon, and this carbon is effectively sequestered by the creatures that feed off a BioHaven.
 In fact, BioHavens are a very significant tool for carbon sequestration in other ways, given that they represent new land mass for trees and plants to grow which would otherwise not exist. During the process of photosynthesis they use up CO2 from the atmosphere. They trap carbon solids in their roots and in time drop them into the anaerobic sediment, where they can no longer release CO2. CO2 is one of the harmful greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
 As well as removing nutrients from the water column, BioHavens can remove heavy metals, in either dissolved form of in the form of fine particulates (studies by NIWA in NZ corroborate this). Copper and zinc studies are very encouraging.
So where does everything go? Understanding Mass Balance
 Applications for the water-cleansing features of BioHavens include wastewater lagoons, farm ponds, stormwater ponds, acid mine drainage ponds, golf courses, rivers and any waterway susceptible to algal blooms caused by fertilizer run-off.
Please click here to see a Glossary of Terms.
Please click here to read Bruce's excellent artice on Microbes
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